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Invasive Vespula Wasps Utilize Kairomones to Exploit Honeydew Produced by Sooty Scale Insects, Ultracoelostoma.
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd, New Zealand ; University of Auckland, New Zealand.
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd, New Zealand.
Linnaeus University, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences. The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd, New Zealand.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7158-6393
University of Auckland, New Zealand.
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2015 (English)In: Journal of Chemical Ecology, ISSN 0098-0331, E-ISSN 1573-1561, Vol. 41, no 11, p. 1018-1027Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Vespula wasps are widely distributed invasive alien species that are able to reach high population densities in the 1.2 M ha of beech forests (Fuscospora spp.) of New Zealand's South Island. These endemic temperate forests have an abundance of carbohydrate-rich honeydew produced by native scale insects (Ultracoelostoma spp.). A characteristic aroma is associated with the honeydew in beech forests, which we hypothesized is the signal used by wasps to harvest the vast resources previously exploited by birds and other insects. Volatile collections were taken of black beech tree trunks with honeydew and sooty mold present, and analyzed with a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. Eleven compounds (benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, 2-phenylethyl acetate, 2-phenylethanol, phenylacetaldehyde, methyl 2-phenylacetate, ethyl 2-phenylacetate, methyl salicylate, n-octanol, octan-3-ol, and 1-octen-3-ol) were positively identified from the headspace, and were shown to elicit an electrophysiological response from Vespula vulgaris worker antennae by using electroantennography (EAG). Field trials with delta traps individually baited with these compounds confirmed wasp attraction to 8 of the 11 compounds tested, with 2-phenylethyl acetate, methyl salicylate, and octan-3-ol capturing the same numbers of wasps as the control. In later trials, attraction to a 1:1 blend of benzaldehyde and n-octanol was significantly higher (45 %) than to any other treatment. Many of the chemicals identified are known to be associated with fermenting sugars, or with fungal aroma. Benzaldehyde and n-octanol are common compounds produced by many different species in nature. The ability to respond to generic signals emanating from sugar resources is likely to contribute to the success of V. vulgaris as an invasive species.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2015. Vol. 41, no 11, p. 1018-1027
National Category
Ecology
Research subject
Natural Science, Ecological chemistry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-47109DOI: 10.1007/s10886-015-0635-1ISI: 000365815200006PubMedID: 26432279Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84949323913OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-47109DiVA, id: diva2:868266
Available from: 2015-11-10 Created: 2015-11-10 Last updated: 2021-09-08Bibliographically approved

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Unelius, C. Rikard

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